Alex Rasmussen case dismissed by Danish doping tribunal

By VeloNews.com

Published Nov. 17, 2011

The Danish sports doping tribunal has dismissed charges against Alex Rasmussen, who was accused of violating whereabouts rules, because the UCI did not meet its deadline in informing the rider of his offense.

Rasmussen, who raced for HTC-Highroad this year, has admitted to violating the whereabouts rules two times in 2010, when he raced for Team Saxo Bank, and once this year.

Alex Rasmussen is no relation to disgraced former Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen.

HTC fired Rasmussen after he and the team were informed of the third violation, which constitutes a doping positive. Rasmussen had expected to join Garmin-Cervelo for 2012, but the contract was put on hold pending the outcome of the case. He is now expected to join that team, which will announce its official 2012 lineup Thursday evening at an event in Boulder, Colorado.

According to the Danish federation, Rasmussen’s third violation was on April 28, 2011, when the UCI was unable to reach him to conduct a doping control. However, the UCI did not notify the rider of the violation until a letter dated August 18, despite a World Anti-Doping Agency rule requiring notification within 14 days.

The UCI or WADA still has the option to appeal the case to the Court for Arbitration of Sport.